Home for the Holidays

by Hope Callaghan

  Mitzi’s hand flew to her throat. She touched the thick gold necklace with the tips of her fingers. “Oh my!”

  “But…but I heard he was part of the extortion, too. Someone found out about him and some…” Mitzi waved a hand in the air. “…escort service.”

  “Unless it was a cover,” Andrea theorized. “That would certainly throw police off.”

  “There is one puzzling thing.” It was something that had just occurred to Gloria. “If Evergreen took the money and ran, he left his wife behind.”

  Mitzi shook her head. “Good heavens. Those two never go anywhere together. Why I heard they don’t even live in the same house anymore. The marriage is a sham and for appearance sake only so Cal can keep winning elections.”

  Still, there was another accomplice. Someone inside the police department. Gloria remembered the other night when she had taken out the trash and noticed a police cruiser parked next to a government-issued vehicle.

  Gloria stood abruptly. “We have half this case cracked. Now to figure out the rest.”

  The girls climbed into the van, but not before promising Mitzi that they would let her know as soon as they were able to name the suspects.

  ***

  Earlier, Gloria had had to hurry and make a decision on where to have Andrea meet Evergreen. She could think of no better place than home turf…Belhaven.

  The girls dropped Andrea off at home so she could pick up her truck. Before she got into her truck, Ruth hooked a tiny mic to the back of Andrea’s dress so they could listen in on the conversation.

  Ruth followed Andrea’s vehicle into town and then backed the van into the dark alley next to the post office before she shut off the lights.

  She placed the monitor on top of the dashboard and pressed the button. “Andrea, do you copy.”

  Static.

  “Yep. Loud and clear.”

  Gloria’s main objective was to figure out if there were bullet holes in the back of Evergreen’s vehicle. The thought ticked Gloria off. The scumbag frequented houses of ill repute, all the while living off taxpayer’s dollars. He was probably paying for it with her money!

  On top of that, the man had nearly ruined Gloria’s life. Well, maybe not ruined but made it pretty darn miserable!

  A light illuminated the back of Andrea’s parked truck.

  “Someone is coming,” Ruth hissed.

  Dot, Lucy and Margaret leaned forward and five sets of eyes focused on Andrea’s truck. A dark, four-door sedan pulled next to her.

  The girls watched as Andrea slid out of her truck and approached the back of the car. “Good girl,” Gloria whispered. “Check for bullet holes.”

  Andrea casually leaned against the back of the car and ran her hand along the trunk as Cal Evergreen edged closer to Andrea.

  It was a game. He moved closer. Andrea moved away.

  “If he so much as touches Andrea, I’ll march over there and punch his lights out,” Gloria vowed.

  Andrea placed her purse in front of her, using it as a barrier to keep Evergreen at bay.

  Gloria could have sworn she saw Andrea tilt her head and nod. It was Andrea’s signal she had found what she was looking for.

  “Let’s roll!” Ruth reached for the driver’s side handle. Gloria reached for the passenger door handle.

  They flung the doors open and hopped onto the pavement.

  At the same time they hit the ground, Gloria heard the sound of tires squealing. Headlights bounced wildly off the front of the restaurant.

  Gloria blinked. In an instant, cop cars surrounded Andrea and City Commissioner Cal Evergreen. Not one or two cop cars, but a parade of cop cars.

  The doors of the cop cars swung open and uniformed officers poured out of the vehicles, guns drawn. “Hands up!”

  Andrea and Evergreen raised their hands in the air.

  A couple officers shoved Evergreen to the ground while another pushed Andrea forward so both her hands pressed flat against the trunk of the commissioner’s car.

  “Oh my gosh!” Gloria had a horrifying thought. “You don’t think police think she’s a …”

  “Streetwalker!” Four women shouted simultaneously.

  “Stop! Stop! You have it all wrong!” Gloria raced across the parking lot and darted across the street.

  One of the officers, a very familiar officer, turned. “Gloria?”

  Gloria came to a screeching halt. “Paul?”

  “What…”

  Andrea glanced over at Paul, who was holding her wrist, getting ready to handcuff her. “Hi Paul.”

  “Andrea?” Paul lowered the cuff and faced Gloria. “Someone has a lot of explaining to do.”

  Gloria crossed her arms and raised her voice. “You got that right!”

  Chapter 19

  Andrea left her truck parked in front of Dot’s Restaurant and climbed into Ruth’s van for the ride to Montbay County Sheriff’s Station.

  Andrea slipped into the middle seat, smack dab between Margaret and Dot. She shuddered as she reached for her seatbelt. “They almost arrested me.”

  Margaret patted her hand. “Welcome to the club, dear.”

  Andrea thought about what she had just said. Margaret and Gloria had been arrested. Lucy, Ruth and Dot had been taken to the police station for questioning. So far, Andrea had been the only one to dodge the bullet.

  The girls proceeded to argue as to whether the brief event constituted a full-blown incident.

  Dot and Margaret thought it should count since Andrea was scared half to death. Lucy, Ruth and Gloria disagreed since Paul was the one who was going to arrest her and he didn’t count. Now if it had been an officer they didn’t know…it might have counted.

  “That’s a technicality,” Andrea argued. “I was taking the fall!”

  “True,” Gloria agreed. “Okay. We’ll give it to you.”

  Gloria’s mind wandered to Paul. He had a lot of explaining to do. She went from being relieved, to being hurt. At that precise moment, she was downright livid.

  By the time Ruth pulled the van into the police parking lot, she had cooled off. The least she could do was give him a chance to explain.

  Captain Davies was waiting for the girls in the lobby. He motioned them to the back and they followed him into the cafeteria / conference room.

  Gloria winked at Margaret as they stepped inside. Hopefully the girls hadn’t been busted.

  Captain Davies sat at the end of the table. Paul sat next to him. Gloria took the seat directly across from her betrothed. She wanted to study his face as he explained what had gone down.

  Dot, the mediator, sat next to Paul, to protect him in case Gloria went after him. She doubted it, but then Gloria had been under extreme duress. Anything was possible.

  The rest of the girls settled into their seats and turned to face Captain Davies.

  He ran a hand through his cropped gray locks and scratched the five o’clock shadow on his chin. “I’m going to guess you ladies were on to Commissioner Evergreen.”

  Margaret nodded. “Andrea shot the back of his car,” she said.

  Davies raised a brow. “Which one of you is Andrea?”

  Andrea raised her hand. “Me,” she answered in a small voice.

  Ruth was in her element. She loved the thrill of the chase. The fact they got their guy gave her a huge adrenaline rush. “I caught him on camera.”

  Davies turned to Ruth. “Camera?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. We set up surveillance at the party. When he went for the money inside the mailbox, we went in for the kill. So to speak,” she added.

  “Money in the mailbox?” Davies was clearly confused.

  Not Paul. This was just the beginning. There was a whole story behind it and he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that his beloved bride-to-be was right in the thick of it. “So you set up a sting to flush out the extortionist.”

  “To clear your name,” Lucy added as she looked at Paul.

  He turned his gaze to the woman seated directly across
from him. “What are friends for?”

  “We volunteered,” Dot said.

  Captain Davies turned to Paul and chuckled. “Man, you weren’t kidding when you said she was a handful.”

  Gloria decided it was time to turn the tables. “So. I’m guessing Paul is no longer on leave and no longer under suspicion.”

  Davies nodded. “Paul agreed to help flush out the mole here in the department. It looks as if we were working one end of the investigation while you fine ladies were working on the other end.”

  Gloria had no intention of airing her dirty laundry and gave Paul a look that told him in no uncertain terms they would have a nice long chat later. “Who was the mole?”

  Six sets of eyes turned to Captain Davies. “Diane Stone. She enlisted the help of her corrupt buddy, Evergreen. They hatched a plot to set Paul up. In the meantime, they collected tidy sums of cash from Mrs. Verona.”

  “But how…”

  “How did Stone get into the men’s locker room?” Davies shrugged. “The same way you two snuck in there, posing as cleaning people.”

  Gloria glanced at Margaret and lowered her gaze. Busted.

  He went on. “Paul caught Evergreen in the prostitution ring. Evergreen and Stone joined forces where they schemed to defraud Mrs. Verona. Evergreen made it look like he himself had been a victim to throw us off.”

  “I saw a patrol car and government vehicle out back the other night…so I’m guessing that was Diane Stone and Commissioner Evergreen?” Gloria asked.

  Paul raised a brow. “It probably was.”

  Gloria had one final question. “Why travel to Lansing?”

  Paul grinned. “I was doing a little research on Commissioner Evergreen. That’s when we started to focus our investigation on him.”

  “How did you know where to find him tonight?” Margaret asked.

  Captain Davies placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “We had a sting set up for him tonight and when our inside guy noticed him hand a card to a beautiful, blonde lady dressed to the nines, they followed him to Belhaven.”

  Andrea blushed. “Do I look like a…”

  Paul patted her hand. “You are a lovely young woman, Andrea. You hit the detective’s radar, that’s all.”

  The women exited the cafeteria and stepped into the hall. Captain Davies held the door and then followed Paul out. “We’ll get your retirement party in the works.”

  He turned to Gloria. “Paul has agreed to stay on part-time and work special assignments. Undercover when we need him.”

  Gloria shifted her purse and peered at Paul. “He has, has he?”

  Paul put his arm around Gloria’s shoulder. “No different than what you do, my love. The only difference is I’ll get paid for it,” he joked.

  Lucy laughed. “He’s got you there, Gloria.”

  Davies extended his hand, took Paul’s in a warm grip and patted him on the shoulder. “I guess I’ll be seeing you at the wedding.” He winked and turned to kiss Gloria’s cheek. “I can’t wait to see this beautiful bride.”

  Outside on the front steps, Paul turned to Gloria. “Am I in the dog house or can I drive my lovely bride-to-be home?”

  “You better drive her home,” Ruth warned. The girls each hugged Gloria and made their way over to Ruth’s van.

  Paul opened the door of the unmarked police car and waited for Gloria to settle into the passenger seat. “By the way, have I told you today how absolutely ravishing you look?” he asked.

  Gloria grinned as she reached for her seatbelt. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” she warned.

  Chapter 20

  Gloria smoothed the front of the dress with a trembling hand. She tugged on a stray strand of hair that had fallen in her eyes. “You don’t think the dress looks too tight?” she fretted.

  “Nope! You are the most beautiful bride I have ever laid eyes on,” Lucy assured her.

  Ariel, Gloria’s granddaughter, slipped her hand inside her grandmother’s hand. “You look like an angel,” she said, her bright green eyes gazing up in adoration.

  Gloria knelt down and wrapped her arms around her only granddaughter. “Why thank you, Ariel. You look like an angel, too. The prettiest angel in the whole wide world.”

  Three towheads burst through the doorway and hopped over to Gloria. It was her grandsons Oliver, Tyler and Ryan, dressed in miniature three-piece suits. Her ushers. “Grams. Everyone is waiting!” Ryan said.

  Right on cue, the organ music drifted into the room.

  Lucy, Dot, Margaret, Ruth and Andrea circled their friend while Gloria’s four precious grandchildren tucked in between and they bowed their heads.

  “Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You that Gloria finally made it to the altar. We thank You for this beautiful day where we can share in the joy of these two lives joined together and we pray for many years of wedded bliss,” Dot prayed.

  “Amen,” the girls agreed.

  “Ay-men!” Ollie shouted enthusiastically.

  “Walk the girls to their seats,” Gloria instructed her grandsons. The boys each dutifully grabbed the girls’ hands and led Gloria’s closest friends to their seats.

  The place was jam packed with over one hundred of Gloria and Paul’s closest friends and neighbors…the entire Town of Belhaven.

  When the others disappeared, Ariel turned to Gloria. “Ready Grams?”

  Gloria sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Yes, Ariel. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Ariel picked up her basket of flower petals and led her grandmother out of the library, down the hall and across the foyer.

  Ariel sashayed down the red runner, dropping rose petals as she made her way to the front.

  Gloria stepped through the French doors and into the festively decorated room. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the man standing at the front. Not Pastor Nate, but the other one. The love of Gloria’s life.

  His eyes met hers and the corners crinkled as he smiled at his bride.

  Gloria’s heart fluttered and she tightened her grip on the bouquet of flowers she was holding.

  Eddie and Ben, Gloria’s sons, stepped forward. Eddie tucked his arm through his mother’s right arm while Ben slipped his arm through her left. The trio began a slow stroll down the red carpet.

  Ariel twirled around, the petticoats of her frilly satin dress dancing in the air. She stopped near the front, next to her brother, Oliver, and her cousins, Ryan and Tyler.

  Gloria tried to pace herself as she moved forward in a slow, steady stroll. She turned her head and smiled at the guests, all of the faces so near and dear to her.

  Gloria’s daughter, Jill, her husband, Greg, along with Eddie’s wife, Karen, and Ben’s wife, Kelly, looked on.

  Jill gave her mom the thumbs up.

  Across the aisle, on the other side, were Paul’s children, Jeff, his wife, Tina, and his daughter, Allie. They smiled at Gloria, happy that their father had finally found someone…the right one.

  Ariel, impatient for her grandmother to pick up the pace, motioned her to hurry, which made the guests closest to the front chuckle.

  In the row, seated directly behind Gloria’s children, were Dot, Ray, Margaret, Don, Lucy, Max, Ruth and Slick Steve or just, Steve, and Andrea and Brian. Last, but not least, was Alice, who winked at Gloria when she caught her eye.

  When Gloria reached the front, Paul stepped to the side and gazed at his bride with adoration.

  Gloria bent down, hugged Tyler, Ryan, Ollie and Ariel. She released her hold and the children scampered off to sit next to their mothers.

  Eddie leaned forward, kissed his mother’s cheek, shook Paul’s hand and quietly made his way over to sit next to his wife.

  Ben was next. He kissed his mother’s cheek, wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace and then turned to Paul. “She’s all yours. Good luck.”

  The crowd chuckled and Paul grinned. “I can’t wait!”

  Paul and Gloria solemnly turned to face Pastor Nate. “Well,
there were several of us here who wondered if this day would ever come.”

  For the second time, the guests started to laugh and Gloria frowned.

  Paul he reached over and squeezed Gloria’s hand.

  “Dearly beloved guests…”

  The ceremony went off without a hitch and when Pastor Nate told Paul he could kiss his bride, Paul wrapped his arms around Gloria’s waist, pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately. He was reluctant to let go until the wolf whistles from the guests echoed in the room.

  Gloria giggled and lifted a hand to her flushed cheeks.

  “Get a room!” a good-natured guest shouted.

  “We did,” Paul informed them with a chuckle. Paul tilted Gloria upright and grabbed her hand.

  “Ladies and gentleman, I am thrilled, beyond measure, to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kennedy.”

  Applause erupted. Everyone jumped to their feet and clapped as Paul, holding tight to his bride’s hand, walked down the aisle.

  The two of them waited on the other side of the doors as the guests and well-wishers, one by one hugged the newlyweds.

  The last ones to exit the room were the Garden Girls. “It was perfect,” Lucy gushed.

  “One of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever been to,” Dot agreed.

  Margaret patted Andrea’s hand. “Andrea, you outdid yourself.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “But I couldn’t have done it without Alice.”

  “Of course,” Ruth said. “Alice is like a speed demon, zipping around doing this and handling that.”

  Alice smiled. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” Gloria smiled and hugged Alice.

  Alice tugged on her skirt. “I must go check on the food.”

  Dot nodded. “I’m right behind you.”

  Dot and Alice had joined forces to whip up some tempting dishes for the reception. Although Gloria and Paul had paid for the food, Alice and Dot had insisted on putting everything together. It was their gift to Paul and Gloria.

  There were standing rib roast, mounds of fried chicken, crockpots full of meatballs, baked and mashed potatoes, fluffy rice, corn, green beans, and dinner rolls, not to mention scrumptious, bite size desserts.